Binding
by Beckon
Summary: Despite the hell they liked to put one another through and how they enjoyed putting each other down again and again... this sure as hell beat dying alone.
1. In the Greatest of Dreams

**A/N: I think I might've promised a few people awhile back that I'd do a Grimmjow/Menoly story for them but... never got around to it. Finally had some downtime today and figured it wouldn't hurt to sit down and do something... three hours later, I remembered what I was supposed to do and tried again. To be honest, I could probably see this going somewhere but I just don't have the time nor inspiration to do anything about it- I would love to, believe me, but outside factors are really hindering me right now. Maybe, one day, I'll be able to pull off something with this couple. **

She was weightless.

Free falling and spiraling downward at speeds that caressed her broken body like gentle hands hoping to ease away her pain. The physical discomfort rattled the empty spaces between her broken ribs and punctured organs; bones snapped cleanly out of place as black spots overtook the paleness of her skin. The edges of her vision were spotted with white dots that threatened to steal one of the few senses she had left.

But the physical pain hurt nothing like the mental aspect of it.

She was maimed, crippled and destroyed by someone of her own kind; he had crushed her like she was the one wearing a black robe- like she was the enemy. But she supposed she couldn't blame him, his intelligence level was about on par to that of a broken rock.

He had signed her death certificate without her acknowledgment.

She wouldn't survive the landing, but... she was completely okay with that. Because then this worthless life of hers would be over and what little remained of her cracked soul could pass on. She used to be terrified by the aspect of death but now it was the only amount of comfort she had.

It felt like a bad dream, you know?

One of those dreams that could only be broken by her foot falling off the edge of the bed; leading her to be awaken to a sudden spring of cold sweat and a startled hiccup in her lungs. It would all be followed by a light, embarrassed chuckle before exhaustion drove her back to sleep.

But she knew better than to believe in something so juvenile.

She wouldn't die with her tail tucked between her legs like that.

The air felt heavier now as she drew closer to the ground below; the top of the building that she was standing at just minutes before was blurring out as it mixed into the skyline. Soon enough, her body would break into incurable pieces and her bones would protrude through her flesh like some kind of victimized voodoo doll; her lungs would fill with blood just before they were crushed from the force alone and the crimson fluid would flood out across her pale lips like some kind of final signature on the world. There might be one last second of lingering consciousness just to feel the broken status of her body before existence itself would be wiped clean from her mind.

It would be like a giant restart button, right?

Gladly. She would gladly strike that button just to forget.

Then again, this life wasn't all bad... there were some perks to it; her mind just couldn't process which ones were the perks exactly. A mix of blue hair, that cocky grin and a body that wouldn't quit blurred into her memory for a brief second before a rush of pain erased the image just as quickly as she had remembered it. Was there an afterlife for people like them? She didn't consider herself to be a person of... really anything, she hardly had any beliefs or virtues but... if anger could bring her to a world like this, then maybe there was a world after this one too. And maybe she would see him.

A soft smile tugged on the corner of her tired, bloodied lips and she figured if anything, her last few moments should be better than the one that lead her to this life.

_You're losing it Menoly._

That was right... she was; maybe her last few moments could just be enjoyed in pure insanity to help her cope.

_But I can't say that I can blame you._

Of course not.

Just moments before impact, she felt some kind of force move to cradle her; tightening itself around her as it pulled her fragile, crushed body into it. And she enjoyed the comfort while it lasted as it seemed to curl around her in an attempt to protect her. It was only when she felt the light presence of fingertips baring into the back of her shoulders, a broad chest pressing into her own that the reality of it came to life. A second body had caught her in mid air to shield her from the crushing impact, sparing her the final blow that she had convinced herself to accept; he entangled himself around her and took the brute of the force when they collided into the sand together. It would seem like a death roll to break the momentum that slowly moved into a rolling dance as his arms tightened themselves around her slender form.

If she had the strength, she would've returned the gesture... just to feel the sensation of his flesh underneath her nails once more.

When it all came to a stilling motion, when they finally came to a stop, there didn't seem to be a single breath to share between them. But she could feel his chest briefly struggling against her, knowing well that hers was mimicking the same motion. Massive wounds carved out his flesh and pumped his blood out into the sand below them; she was certain pieces of his intestines were barely being contained behind his broken stomach wall... a Shinigami blade had proved to be far too quick for the Panther himself.

There was no hope of redemption for either of them here.

It took her remaining strength to slowly lift her fingers to stroke across his cheek; feeling the way he seemed to turn away at the motion... just like he always did. Straying locks of blue hair fell into his face and she would've tucked them aside if she thought it matter. Their bodies would just burn away to ashes after this, their burial looks would not be seen anyways.

Despite the hell they liked to put one another through and how they enjoyed putting each other down again and again... this sure as hell beat dying alone. Even if he was to be at her deathbed, and she at his, this was almost suiting for them; she knew if either of them had the strength to do so, they would've delivered the killing blow to the other without an ounce of hesitation. But death lingered in numb fingertips and there was nowhere else for them to run anymore; they were practically the caricatures of death anyways.

"If there's a world after this..." she whispered, pressing her hand completely against his curved jawline; feeling his skin almost tremble underneath her touch. She could feel the heat of his flesh radiating beneath her and feel how it was beginning to burn away; black ashes slowly taking off with the breeze. "Leave with me and let's never come back."


	2. Cradled by the Light of Day

_7:23_

_7:24_

_7:25_

The alarm was set to go off at eight… why was she even bothering herself with watching the neon-green numbers go from one digit to the next? What exactly was planned today that she needed to get up at eight for? Today was supposed to be her day off… maybe it wasn't, maybe she wrote the wrong date down.

Sighing briefly, she tossed aside the thin covers that had been pulled on and kicked off consistently throughout the night; one leg moved to dangle over the edge of the bed and was followed shortly by the second one. She had to force herself to sit up and take a moment to keep her head from spinning before she pushed up to her feet. Letting her balance settle for a moment, she ran one hand through her ruffled blonde strands as she shuffled her way through the small bedroom. Fingers grabbed a few articles of clothing that had been carelessly thrown aside the night before and bundled them under one arm.

Alright so… if today was her day off then what was she going to do? She didn't have any plans set out ahead of time, she didn't have anyone to call- they were all probably working themselves.

Shouldering open the bathroom door, she tossed the pieces of clothing onto the counter before she moved to brace her hands against the fake ceramic surface. Eyes glanced up to the slightly smudged mirror in front of her and she frowned at the reflection that stared back at her. Apparently she had forgotten to remove her make up last night and now it was smeared all over her face… great. It looked like she had raccoon eyes now, black rings circling her one blue eye and one green eye. People always liked to talk about her eyes, not because they were pretty or because they suited her personality, but just because they were strange and no one had witnessed something like that before; she always remarked that it was just an inherited gene of some kind and that it was possible for it to appear in humans- it was rare to occur, but it still existed. But most people just like to remark about how their cat or their dog had the same condition and questioned if she was blind in one eye just like their pet. Did she look like some kind of pet? She usually lost her temper at that point and snapped far too quickly to recover from, which sent all the questionnaire-type people scattering for cover.

Whatever, it was their problem, not hers. They were the ones who wanted to ask stupid questions, but at least they always got the answers they were looking for, right? Even despite the volume used.

Fingers moved to tousle her blonde locks once more before they pushed forward to turn on the sink in front of her; filling one hand with the running water, she leaned in and splashed what liquid remained against her face to try and rejuvenate her senses once more.

She had that dream again…

The one where she's falling and falling and… she always wakes up before she's about to hit the ground. It's always just a blur of colors on the way down and scattered thoughts that wind in and out of her sub-consciousness.

She always recalls the shattered images of a man just before she hits, or rather wakes up anyways. She doesn't actually see his face but she remembers the blue hair, a cocky grin and… a body that wouldn't quit; the last one always brings a chuckle to her lips seeing as she can't really recall why she would say something like that about a stranger. She had never met a man like that before though, so where did he come from? She didn't really consider herself all too creative to just… make up a man to overtake her dreams. That took a lot of work to do in the first place anyways.

It was just a dream.

Just some… stupid, reoccurring dream.

Get yourself together Menoly, people are going to start thinking that you're going insane. Well hell, as of lately, it felt like she _was_ going insane… maybe she should take a walk or something and clear her head; plans could come afterwards.

Slowly stripping off her skimp nightwear, she slipped into the same jeans from yesterday and tossed on a white shirt she had hanging on the towel rack- not entirely sure what it was doing there, but not really caring for it either. Soaking a small towel underneath the sink, she worked on getting off the smudged layer of make up that had stained her skin, nearly rubbing her flesh raw just to get off the last bit of mascara. Ugh, she hated wearing the clotting rub of 'natural materials' but she had a big meeting yesterday and it was kind of needed.

Stepping out into the hallway, she gave into a long stretch and continued on into the living room. Maybe if she left now, she could get a cup of coffee at the café in front of the apartment before the lines got busy. She didn't feel like getting decent though and settled on just grabbing her jacket from where it had been mindlessly tossed over the back of the couch. There wasn't a lot of furniture in her place but she didn't really bother with material things like that, as long as she had a bed and a TV, she was fine. Throwing her jacket on, she zipped it about halfway up before she started out the door; feeling the cool air of the morning run across her face.

A decent cup of coffee would do her some good in trying to forget about that dream. Maybe she should see someone about it, or at least look it up and see if there was some kind of meaning behind it. And hey, maybe next she could get some cocaine and shoot up for a night.

That's not funny, Menoly.

No, of course not.

It was a small trot down the winding stairs that ran down the side of the three-story apartment building- or at least, that went down this section of it. The entire complex was compromised of five or six different buildings that held about ten apartments on each floor. Surprisingly enough with the closeness of the neighbors and the multitude of people living on one floor, it was usually quiet with the exception of a party every now and then. She had gotten the apartment security guards called on her once or twice but had managed to get her way out of a citation somehow. Luckily. But she did know most of the people on her apartment floor and half of them weren't all too put off by the noise, then again they were too high out of their minds to remember their own names.

Making her way across the open parking lot that had parts of it closed off due to renovations and construction, she moved down to the sidewalk that lined the outside of the complex. Alright so… get a cup of coffee and then what? Maybe shop for a little while? Shop for what though? It wasn't like she needed anything… she got a month's worth of groceries last weekend, bought a few decorations for the apartment and even some replacement parts she needed for her car. She guessed a few new business suits wouldn't hurt but it wasn't like she was trying to impress anyone at work.

Was there something she could buy to make herself seem less boring?

The line at the coffee shop was decent for this hour and she only had to wait a few minutes for the three people ahead of her to make their decisions. The barista already knew her order off the top of her head and had the cup halfway finished by the time she reached the counter; that probably meant she came here too often and maybe she should look into finding a new place to go to.

"Most of the time you're in and out of here in a blink of the eye." The barista noted as she waited for the machine to finish brewing a fresh bag of coffee beans.

She couldn't tell what the plastic nametag said seeing as her striped uniform obscured part of it, maybe she should put some time into at least knowing a letter or two. "Yeah, I got the day off for the first time in five months." She remarked, tugging slightly on her jacket. "Not that I know what to do with the time."

"There's a craft show going on downtown, might be fun to visit."

Yeah… maybe she could go there if she was desperate.

Paying for her coffee, she picked up the finished cup and headed back out onto the sidewalk; cringing slightly at the sight of the new mass of business people just now coming through the door. Good thing she got here when she did… on second thought, she forgot to turn her alarm clock off, it was probably bitching about the time to all of her neighbors.

Oh well.

Moving down the sidewalk, she noticed all the different people rushing about to catch buses and make it to their offices on time. She guessed they were all running late… that would really suck for them; actually, it kind of sucked for her too because now she was stuck in the middle of their mayhem.

A few of them bumped into her and muttered a half-assed apology as they continued on their way; she tried not to get distracted by it, her doctor advised her to cut down on her stress levels anyways. It was kind of funny to see the waves of business suits running down the sidewalks and wonder where the hell they were going. She liked to try and guess where they were headed off to, most of the times she got bored and decided to just mess with the choices. That lady in the peach suit was probably a secretary, a 'coffee lady' so to say; the group of men all dressed in black were more than likely lawyers; the patch of people just beyond them… they were probably prostitutes for all she cared. Well that was pretty quick, her attention span must be already low today.

And that guy standing on the corner with his phone, he was probably some kind of background worker seeing as his blue hair looked a bit out of place.

Wait, wait… blue hair?

She found herself stopping for a moment at the sudden realization but tried to keep herself from getting too deep into it… That was ridiculous. It was just a stupid dream; she shouldn't let it influence her real life. And yet, she couldn't convince herself to just let it go… she couldn't just walk past him without doing something. She hated it but she did eventually move to get a closer look at him- right about the same time he was turning back around; running clean into her without so much as a show of hesitation.

She nearly toppled off her feet but managed to catch her balance at the very last minute- able to keep her coffee from spilling all over the sidewalk just the same. He didn't seem to even flinch the slightest bit from the recoil.

"Why don't you watch where you're going!" he snapped without a sign of hesitation.

If she didn't consider it to be a waste, she would've thrown her coffee right at his face. Her lips peeled back into an easy snarl and it was impossible to try and extinguish the flush of anger that erupted from the center of her chest. "Me? Why don't you pay attention and get your head out of your ass for once!" She stormed off before he had a chance to reply and disappeared easily into the moving crowd behind her.

Great, this is was exactly how she wanted to start her day.


	3. Is it You I Seek?

As if having to take the bus wasn't enough to make his day bad from the start, he had to run into some kind of smart-mouth bitch who wanted to make the morning even worse. Shit, he was almost looking forward to getting to work at this point now- at least he had a door he could use to close and lock everyone out. If only someone could invent something like that for the outside world and reality itself. Fuck, he should probably be glad his car was in the shop today or else he would've ran everyone down; the best life sentence there would've been to serve as far as he was concerned.

Scanning his work card at the front door, he heard the accepted click and pulled the glass door away from its frame just long enough for him to step through. He barely even paid attention to the wide-open lobby that was decorated with expensive paintings, rugs and even mahogany desks for the secretaries who hardly did their work anyways. Pushing past the few people who were lingering about, he made his way into the closest open elevator and closed the doors before anyone else could join him. Yeah, people hated it when he did that but right now, it was probably best if he didn't have company… he'd be tempted to strangle them right here and now.

Unresolved anger issues much?

You've got problems, Jaegerjaquez.

Fuck you, subconscious.

The elevator gave its own little ding when he reached the floor he needed and he was quick to shove the people on the other side out of his way. Turning to the left, he moved his way down the corridor and tried to get away from everyone as soon as he could. His office was down the hallway, around the next corner and at the end of that corridor- it was the magic corner office that took him four years to get. He earned it though, because he deserved it from the very beginning.

"Hey, motherfucker."

He barely had his office door opened when he heard the voice and was tempted to close it and head back out. Sighing, he shook his head and made his way inside, slightly kicking the door closed behind him. "What the hell are you doing in here so early?"

"I messed up my alarm clock and got here a few hours too early, didn't feel like driving myself back home." The man shrugged, seemingly more tuned into the phone in hand rather than the conversation. "Plus you know, the boss was here too and we decided neither of us had anything better to do-"

"Stop, just stop. As funny as it is to hear about your sexual escapades with the boss, I'm not in the mood to listen to them." He interrupted as he tossed his briefcase onto his desk and walked to move around it, practically throwing himself into his chair on the other side. "This morning would've been better if I had woken up drunk instead. Or dead, that would've been good too."

"Sucks to be you."

"Shut up, Gilga."

"Fuck you, Jaegerjaquez."

Fingers moved to rub at his temples before he glanced over to where the second man was seated on the other end of his office. Why he decided to place two extra leather chairs in the empty space was beyond him but whatever, they helped to fill the place up. Their usual business attire, that was required at all times on the premises, was barely even noted with the other man; he lacked a proper jacket and the white shirt underneath it showed signs of previous disarray- then again, he probably wasn't lying about the whole ordeal with him and the boss. In most meetings, the two couldn't stand each other and they normally went at the other's throat… maybe that was just a cover for when they had sex on everyone's desk during the night hours. His black hair was cut straight and barely dangled around his shoulders in long strands; they almost helped to hide the eye patch he kept over his left eye- apparently he had just been born without one, which seemed like a reasonable explanation. His elongated body structure had a difficult time fitting itself in the small chair as his long legs seemed almost cramped in the large office. "So, this weird bitch ran into me on the sidewalk today and proceeded to scream at me like it was my fault."

"That's just how bitches roll." Nnoitra replied with a brief shrug as he tilted his phone slightly to go with the game he was playing. "Was she at least attractive?"

"Pft, hardly. She looked like one of those useless art-type people." He remarked as he leaned back in his chair and propped his feet up on his desk. "You know, I think she had that disease where you're born with two different colored eyes; I should've made a dog joke about it."

He glanced up away from his phone for a moment and watched as the blue-haired man still seemed to be fuming about the event. "Two colored eyes? What color was her hair?"

"Why the hell does it matter?"

Another shrug moved from his shoulder before he looked back to his game. "Well you know, I remember you bitching about some two-colored eye girl in your dream before- I just figured it might've been her."

He narrowed his eyes briefly at the remark before he gave a shake of his head. "That's ridiculous, you're retarded- and for your shit of a memory... that lady has only one eye; I figured that would be a detail you'd be able to connect most with."

"Let me repeat my previous statement, fuck you Jaegerjaquez."

That was just an absurd connection to make… the lady in his dream only had one eye, not that hard to fuck up. It was just a ridiculous manner to bring up. So what if it was a reoccurring dream that plagued him every other week? It wasn't like it meant anything… unless a reoccurring movie of running across some kind of desert was a symbol for something.

He was always running though, wasn't he?

There was always blood dripping all over the place, the faint sense of pain moving through all of his limbs…

There was a dive and a collision roll into the sand, the small particles felt like they ripped the skin from his body and left the underlying muscles raw. But there was a sense of weight in his arms… a small, blonde-haired woman tucked in against his chest; her messy locks were pushed out of her face to reveal the black hole where her right eye would've been.

"_If there's a world after this… leave with me and let's never come back."_

"You done reminiscing yet?"

The question broke his concentration on the matter and for a moment, he hated the man for it. That lady from this morning… yeah she was blonde and had a single green eye, but that didn't mean anything. Her voice though... no, no the whole thing was just stupid, it was like saying he could pick out every blonde-haired, green-eyed girl and say that was her. Besides, it was just a stupid fucking dream; if every dream he had came true or meant something, he sure as hell wouldn't be here right now. "Yeah, whatever." He muttered. "Shouldn't you be heading back to your own office now?"

"And what? Work? Nah, I wasn't planning on doing that for another four hours."

Shaking his head, he turned to look at the open window behind him; glancing down at the busy street below. There were still crowds of people moving up and down the sidewalk as they rushed to get somewhere soon, sometime now. It was just a coincidence… pure fucking coincidence.

"Are you pretending to be in some kind of music video? You're looking out the window all dramatic-like, just cue the music and you're sold."

"Goddamn, has anyone told you how annoying you can be?" Grimmjow snarled, watching as the man only shrugged once again. "Look, I have a lot of work to get done and the boss is expecting these files to be on her desk before I leave today. And while I'm sure your early morning fucking routine has her in a good mood, I'd prefer to lay around and do nothing tomorrow."

"Excuses, excuses." He retorted as he eventually pushed himself to his feet. "Well, hopefully you man up sometime around lunch because I don't want to act like I'm on some kind of date with you."

He watched as the taller man eventually stepped out of his office and waited for the door to close completely before he let out a heavy groan. Fucking, fucking great… now that stupid idea was planted in his head and he couldn't get it out. There was no way it was the least bit possible though… a person can't just step out of a dream and move into reality.

But what if it was? What if it was possible and that was the woman he kept seeing… what then?

If he was given a second chance to find her, would he take it? Did he really want to risk the chance of making an ass out of himself though? Well hell, she couldn't think any less of him at this moment, right?


	4. Doesn't Make it Any Easier

"You look like shit."

"Thanks."

The black-haired woman at the other desk in the small room frowned briefly at the response before a short smirk took over soon after. Her charcoal locks were pulled back into dual tails that she had clipped to the back of her head, creating a rather playful-looking style that didn't seem to fit her in the least bit. A small pinstriped suit accented her slender body with its shortened skirt that revealed her lightly curved legs and an opened blouse to show off the flat of her sternum- a hint at her pressed cleavage was enough to garner a second glance from most men. For a woman who ran her own fashion company and handled just about everything there was to it, she didn't actually like to wear shoes that often around the office; the few times they had meetings or had other employers visiting, she usually donned a pair of black pumps but any other time it was just her dark-gray stockings.

There were always rumors that she used to be a former model, but she didn't believe them… there would've been evidence of it somewhere.

"What happened?"

She rolled her eyes and hung her bag on the small hook on the side of her desk; she wasn't really in the mood to talk, it was too early to hold a conversation anyways. Moving into her seat, she looked at the faint files that remained scattered on the surface before she moved to where her screensaver was bouncing across her computer monitor. "Nothing, I just had a bad day yesterday."

"Hmm, the one day you have off, it's terrible for you." The woman chuckled.

"I got in a fight with some random guy on the street and for some reason I can't let it go." Menoly muttered, moving one hand to ruffle up her blonde locks. "It's so stupid, I mean it lasted like two seconds and I'm still pissed off about it."

The woman shrugged lightly and pushed herself to her feet. "Sometimes those are the worst. The guy probably wasn't worth your time anyways."

Toying with a few thoughts on her own, she watched as her boss shuffled through some papers on her desk before she moved over to where a nearby bulletin board was pinned up on the wall; there was a mess of notes and papers attached to it, a few strings connecting things… she didn't even know what the damn thing was about. "Hey, if I told you something a little embarrassing… would you promise not to laugh?"

"Is this an actual promise or-"

"Let me rephrase it, if you laugh, I'll beat you to death with this stapler and no one will be the wiser." She retorted, watching as the woman gave a brief nod before she ushered for her to continue. Sighing briefly, she pinched the empty space between her eyes and shook her head. "I think the reason I'm so caught up on that stupid fight is because… the guy may or may not have resembled the man from my dreams. I know, it sounds ridiculous, but I can't stop thinking about him. I've had this dream for as long as I can remember and when I finally run into a guy like that, we blow up at each other."

"Well you said it yourself that you never finish the dream… so maybe that's just how it ends."

"I don't know… I get the feeling that I die at the end of it."

Loly frowned for a moment at the words before she went back to the organized mess in front of her, tying a few more pieces of strings around the thumbtacks that were holding up important notes for her to remember; the color coordinated strings told her which ones were more urgent and took order over others. "That's a rather morbid dream but I think just about everyone has one of them… they're usually not repeating though."

"I've already looked into the whole matter of it." Menoly scoffed lightly as she toyed with the mouse of her computer. "I mean, death means some kind of removal from a situation or emotions of some sort; the falling aspect could mean a fear of loss of control or loss of something material; the injured things is like someone offended me or something. It doesn't make a jackshit of sense to me. I've had plenty of weird ass dreams before and I've never looked into them like this."

"Those don't repeat themselves like this one does though." She reminded, tacking in her last note before she took a step back to look over the bulletin board. "Yeah, I've had like two dreams where I was pregnant but that doesn't mean I want to have a baby."

Her eyes narrowed briefly at her boss's remark that tried to make sense of the situation by putting it into a different light. "Loly… you're infertile… you couldn't have a baby even if you wanted to."

"Thank you for reminding me… you sound just like my mother."

She chuckled lightly at the bitter tone in the woman's voice and listened to how she seemingly muttered to herself about the notes on her board; it still didn't make a lick of sense to her but at this point, she didn't really care. "Alright, here, well let me ask this… if you were in my kind of situation and met the man from your dreams, what would you have done?"

"I did meet the man of my dreams about three years ago and after our initial meeting, I tied him to my bedpost and fucked him for six hours." She shrugged as she turned back to her desk to shuffle through her files once more. "You just yelled at yours."

"Fuck you, Loly."

"Come on, now that we're done fucking each other here, we have a meeting to get to."

She narrowed her eyes briefly at the statement and watched as the smaller woman walked over to wrestle her heels back onto her feet. "What are you talking about? We didn't have one scheduled for today."

"Oh I know, but this is going to be an emergency one; I'm calling it right now."

* * *

><p>It was ridiculous…<p>

To go off running after some blurry image of a man she's only seen flickers of while she was asleep… how crazy was she? How crazy was Loly expecting her to be? She tried to be rational at all times, at least when it was possible, but this was just out of the question. And yet part of her wanted to do it anyways, part of her wanted to go running out there just to find an answer even if it made her out to be a fool…

Throwing herself into her couch, she sighed and moved one hand to brace itself over her face, partly wanting to tear her own skin off had it been possible. She was still fully dressed from work, heels and all… was she _this_ bothered by it? Most of the time as soon as that front door closed, she was practically naked in two seconds. Maybe she was just desperate for an answer- desperate for anything at this point…

"You're fucking losing it, Menoly… what do you expect to gain from this?" she muttered to herself, moving her fingers to rub at her temples in hope to cure the headache that was pounding against the back of her eyes. Was there someone she could call to get this whole fucking matter off her chest… No, actually there wasn't. She wasn't all too social and most of the people she knew were from work and they didn't need to know details of her personal life like that.

Fuck it.

She was just going to take a scolding-hot shower, watch a dirty movie and head to bed as soon as she could… she just had to convince herself to put these stupid thoughts behind her and get off the couch first. Maybe she could just fall asleep on the couch and go to work in the same clothes, it would sure as hell save her time and hassle in the morning, right? She really wasn't that lazy though, was she? Or that disgusting for that matter.

She moved her hand to the back of her neck and rolled it slightly before she forced herself back onto her feet. Come on, Mallia, stop being so lazy.

You may be crazy but you're not lazy.


	5. Why Is This Difficult?

It had been weeks now and he still couldn't get that fucking girl out of his head.

Every time he finally managed to shake himself of her and the overall idea that they were one in the same… that fucking dream came back to remind him of their similarities. Beforehand, it was just a stretch and he cursed his co-worker for even making the connection, but now… now every time those images played in his head, all he could see was her; the similarities were building up and he couldn't get his focus to shift anywhere else.

This whole situation was a ridiculous mess started off by a stupid comment.

But it was dragging him in and beating him into submission, waiting for him to finally break and give up. He hated himself for it but he eventually did just that. Just once though. He would give himself one chance to run into her again, just one, and if it didn't work, then he would throw this whole case behind him. Even with a shit faced deal like that, he couldn't bring himself to lower his pride and actually go back to that street. At most, it was a freak chance of meeting; there was a very low chance that it would happen again… She probably didn't even live in that area, she was probably just walking through and happened to run her stupid ass into him. He was just wasting his time with this charade.

Still though, while his car was fully operational now, he decided to take the public transport anyways. Fuck, he hated the people on it but at least the buses had been remodeled in the last year and were decent enough to deal with. This was where he ran into that stupid bitch in the first place, out here on the stupid sidewalk looking like a fucking idiot.

Okay, there was a slight chance he had unresolved anger issues after all…

Eh, fuck them.

He was just wasting his goddamn time out here anyways.

There was a rush of people raging around him but he didn't really give a shit if he was standing in their pathway or not; he wasn't in a rush to get to work anyways… it wasn't like there was anything going on there anyways- probably just Nnoitra fucking with the boss again.

Fuck, they better not be on his desk again.

One hand moved to push through his hair as he took a decent pace down the sidewalk, almost laughing at the people who hurried to make up for their lateness already. It would be hilarious if a car came by and just side swept half of the sidewalk and killed most of these bitches… that would probably make their day a lot better than how it was going now. There would be a lot of dead bodies though and the police would probably shut down this entire street and inconvenience everyone. Well, wouldn't be his problem.

It sounded like there was some kind of chain reaction coming behind him as a few curses escaped a couple of the businessmen to his right before he felt one of the fuckers run into his side. He had to greatly restrain himself from immediately sinking his fist into the idiot's face- he couldn't really afford another battery charge at this point, his file at the police department was large enough without a new one. But yelling obscenities at someone was pretty much free game… unless they wanted to press harassment charges, which were usually dropped anyways.

"Try opening your eyes, you fucker!"

The moment the words left him, he watched as the offender stopped immediately and turned back towards him. Ah holy fuck… The gentle tousle of blonde strands were barely tended to and felt rushed around the curve of her face; both eyes were narrowed to almost mask their different colors; her thin lips were set back in a snarl but the moment her eyes settled on him… the expression almost appeared to have been wiped out completely.

"Fuck, you again?" she spat, giving him a shake of her head before she stormed off.

Well fuck her.

Shit, wait hang on… get your act together, Jaegerjaquez.

"Wait a minute, get your ass back here!" he called afterwards, picking up his pace to follow after her. She didn't appear the least bit interested in his words and kept pushing her way through the crowd. Fuck, he couldn't blame her for it; he probably looked like a fucking asshole chasing her down the street after yelling profanities at her.

She cursed to herself at the sound of his voice following after her and wished she could've just disappeared from his sight overall. But… this is what she wanted though, right? She wanted to run into him again and figure out who the hell he was for the sake of settling her troubled mind. Even though she was running half an hour behind schedule and would no doubt get to her office way late… she needed to get this fucking mess over with. All she could hear was Loly's voice in the back of her head.

"_I did meet the man of my dreams about three years ago and after our initial meeting, I tied him to my bedpost and fucked him for six hours."_

Okay, maybe that wasn't the best line but it was the driving point behind the other woman's argument and she couldn't deny that.

Turning back on her heels, she frowned briefly as she finally came face to face with the man who had been pursuing her for a short moment of time. He appeared to be slightly taken back by the motion but paused just the same. "What? What could you possibly fucking want with me? You wanna stand in the middle of the sidewalk and yell some more at one another?"

Oh great, way to get a decent start on this mystery, Menoly.

He matched her same frowned expression as he realized that he didn't have much to go after this initial point. What was he expected to say? 'Hey, just wanted to tell you that you look like this bitch in my dreams. Have a nice day.' Because that would go over so well. It's not like he actually expected her to turn back around to face him like this… "Yeah actually I would love to waste my time arguing like a dumbass out here in the middle of the street."

What the fuck, Grimmjow?

"Yeah well, fuck you." She snarled as she turned back around to continue on her way, barely managing to stop herself from completing the action though. "Okay, okay fine, we can sit here and waste each other's goddamn time because apparently there's something going on between us."

The fuck did that mean?

It's not like he had time to waste on this kind of shit though. "Alright fine, look… you just resemble someone I think I know, I just needed to make sure of it." If that wasn't the stupidest thing he's ever said before…

She narrowed her eyes briefly at his comment, trying to decipher what the hell the man was trying to tell her. So what if she resembled someone he used to know? Did that really give him proper right to chase after her like this? Fuck, what was she talking about… she was in somewhat of the same situation. Only he just looked like a blurred image of someone from a dream, not reality. "Well I've never seen you before in my life, excluding the time before, so that might help."

No, of course she would have never seen him…

"Yeah well… thanks for nothing." He muttered, straightening his jacket for a moment before he moved to step past her. This was just a waste of time like he had mentioned before, why did he even bother stopping her?

Just like that? A few remarks and he was gone? Well hell, she just loved wasting her goddamn time as much as the next person, that didn't mean she dragged other people into it. Cursing under her breath, she shook her head and moved after him just the same; making sure to catch up to him in the next few steps. "Do you always stop people to harass them on the street?"

"All the fucking time." He replied. "I gotta do something to keep me sane and I don't give a shit about other people."

"Well thanks for the enjoyment, the rest of my day is gonna be hell." She snorted, not even sure why the hell she was walking with him like this. She supposed she just wanted to get the last word in, or maybe waste more of his time to compensate for her own. "You can go fuck yourself."

Damn… she had a bitchy attitude.

He kind of liked it.

Snarling briefly to himself, he watched as she moved her way past him now and went about her life. Well this was just one big, wasted experience, now what? Was he supposed to just go to work and forget this… or act before this entire opportunity was wasted? He sure as hell wasn't a quitter, maybe an asshole but he didn't give up on challenges. And this was definitely one of them. "… I saw you in a stupid dream, that's why you seem faintly familiar. It's not exactly you but the resemblance is on and off uncanny."

A dream about her?

What a fucking pervert.

Oh wait.

She stopped in mid-step at the low remark before she glanced over one shoulder to look back at him. "A dream?" she repeated, watching as he seemed to snarl at the replicated words. "… Is it a falling one?"

He narrowed his eyes at her question, thinking she was the weird one here now. "No, it's… you know what, it's fucking retarded anyways-"

"No, shut up and tell me."

Who the hell did she think she was telling him what the fuck to do? Actually, he guessed he couldn't blame her reaction; it was a lot better than how someone else would've responded. "It's more like running through some kind of desert of some sort… I don't know where it comes from since I've never been to a desert before."

Running? Well shit, that didn't have anything to do with her. Maybe she had this whole thing wrong. "… Have you ever sat down and listened to how crazy you sound right now?"

"Fuck you."

Sighing, she shook her head and glanced around briefly at the people who rushed past them; a few of them casting off an angry look their way. "I'm only tolerating this because… I had a dream similar to that and… there was someone like you in it… I just didn't have the balls to confront you about it. It probably doesn't mean anything other than we both have an overactive imagination."

Wait wait… she had been passing him off as the creeper here but she had the exact same problem? Well fuck her for sure then, but at least it gave a loose sense of confirmation on his part; at least he wasn't the only crazy one here. "What's your name?"

"Menoly." She answered slowly. "And yours?"

"Grimmjow."


	6. But You Make Me Appreciate the Challenge

She ignored her usual greetings to the people behind the front desk or the small talk in the elevators; her hands were practically tearing the strap of her bag apart as she gripped it tightly between her fingers. The meeting from this morning… with that man out on the sidewalk… it seemed surreal, like it had just been another dream- because she definitely needed another one of those.

Eyes dropped to the small piece of paper she had in hand, looking over the written numbers again and again.

His phone number… did she really have the balls to call him though? They didn't really make plans; they just exchanged names and numbers before they went their separate ways. Perhaps she should have waited for more- no, she was already late enough as it was and he was probably in the same boat. Not that she cared much for being an hour or so behind schedule, at least she had a decent excuse for it.

What was his name again?

Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez.

It was certainly a mouthful to say but something about it felt familiar. She couldn't pinpoint the feeling but it was there and she couldn't describe it. For once, she had never felt more excited and frightened all at once. That dream felt like it was just a staple to how insane she felt at times but now… now she could finally get to the bottom of it and prove it somehow. She could prove it in reality rather than scouring the web for ideas on what the hell it could mean.

When he said his dream was about running though… had he been running to catch her? If that was the case, then did it still count as a dream? What if it was just a memory instead? A memory of what though… some kind of reincarnated life?

"Just where the hell have you been?"

The question barely bothered her as she pushed aside the door to her office, almost just ignoring the voice as she slowly made her way over to her desk. She hardly even felt herself sitting down, barely changing the position of her upper body as her mind continued to run itself at a hundred questions per minute.

"… Did something happen?" Loly asked once more, watching as the blonde-haired woman almost appeared as though she was in a state of shock. She narrowed her pink eyes briefly and watched as a few small slivers of movement hinted that there was still life underneath that skin. "You look like you're having a stroke."

She snapped herself free at the last few words before she glanced over at the other woman; taking note of the almost, slightly concerned look that dressed her face. Shaking her head lightly, she moved to set her bag down by her desk and stuffed the piece of paper into her jacket pocket. "I'm fine… I just… had a really eventful morning."

"The last time you had an 'eventful' morning, you came in here all pissed off and ready to start a war." She reminded.

"I know." Menoly nodded faintly still unable to pull herself completely away from the whole matter. "I ran into that guy again though…"

She arched one of her black eyebrows and leaned forward in a sign of interest. Beforehand, when she talked about the man, she was storming and raging all over the place but now… it looked like she was in shock. This was the same man she claimed looked just like the guy from her dreams, so maybe she got a closer look at him? "And?" she posed, slightly drawing out the single word on the tip of her tongue.

Fingertips moved to tap lightly on the flat of her desk as she tried to find something to keep them from overreacting, or at least to keep them from shaking as badly as they were. "Well, he actually stopped me this time and… we mostly cussed one another and yelled in the middle of the sidewalk. But we eventually settled into a decent conversation and he said that he only stopped me because… I resemble someone from his dream too…"

"… Was it at least a good dream?"

A slight snarl cursed her lips at the question, but she wasn't really surprised that the woman would ask something like that; this is the same lady who talked about her 'dream man' in horrid, sexual details from time to time. "It was different than mine, but… I guess same kind of linear path to it. I got his phone number, I figured it wouldn't hurt to try and find some time to set aside and talk this thing through. It could just be a weird and random fluke… or it could be something entirely different."

"What if your dreams are linked together though? What then?"

"I don't know… I haven't gotten that far yet…"

The woman gave a light chuckle before she leaned back in her seat, knitting her fingers together behind her head. "Doesn't sound like a very good plan if you ask me. Why don't you call and ask him?"

She snorted and tried to turn her attention back to the pile of work that was gathering on her desk. "I'm going to give it a few days and think this whole thing through first. Hopefully I'll have a decision to be made by then."

"This is the man you've been practically trying to track down and you want to 'wait a few days?' What the hell is wrong with you? Pick up the phone and make that man your bitch right now."

"I can't exactly do that right now, alright? This entire week is packed with meetings and we have to entertain two separate companies by Friday, I can't exactly just take off time to go talk to some guy. I highly doubt he's going to be brutally murdered between now and the end of the week. I think it's all going to be okay." Menoly snapped lightly towards the other woman. "Not to mention you're probably going to make me work overtime just to be a raging bitch face about it."

Loly paused slightly at the sharp words before a light chuckle caught on and the corners of her lips toyed with that same kind of amusement. "That's true… actually now that you mention it, I scheduled us a meeting coming up within the hour, so do try to get your papers and studies together."

Gods, she hated this job sometimes.


	7. I Will Chase You Down

"Just why is your ass so late?"

He had been so completely ruled by his train of thought he barely even noticed the elevator doors opening in front of him; eyes snapped up at the question and landed on the same, dark-haired man from before. Seeing as he was still playing on his phone, he imagined nothing had started just yet… or at least the boss didn't start making her rounds… not that she would do much anyways.

A slight scoff left him as he stepped out and headed down towards his office instead, choosing to ignore the man for now. There was a lot going on in his head and he just needed some time to think it over. It wasn't every day he ran into some lady from his dreams and she actually agreed to keep in contact with him… actually, if that was a reoccurring theme, then he might have some problems in this head of his. But she said the same thing to him, she was having the same kind of dream… it probably didn't mean anything but it was an odd twist of events; not a lot of other people could brag about something like this happening to them.

Not that he could see why someone would want to brag about it.

"And why are you ignoring me?"

Yet another question to disturb his thought process, causing him to fumble slightly as he tried to unlock his office door. Letting out a long groan, fingers pinched the empty space between his eyes while his free hand worked to get the door from its frame.

"Because I don't want to fucking deal with you right now, has that thought ever crossed your goddamn mind?" his words were an easy snap and he held nothing back in them, almost a little surprised to hear his own short temper sparking. A solid click broke the lock free and he shouldered the door aside to let himself into the silent office.

"Someone's hormones acting up again?"

"Gilga, I will cut your fucking tongue out if you say one more thing."

The threat barely did much to deter the man, not that they ever did anyways. He had a lot to say but didn't always back it up… the few times he did though often times cost him a hospital visit and a trip to court. The last thing he needed right now was someone telling him that he needed to attend anger management classes or something. That shit didn't work anyways- if anything, it was the cause of his last stint in jail.

Fingers pushed through his chopped hair as he kicked back and threw himself into his chair, feeling it roll back from the force. Goddamn, his mind was racing and he swore it felt like his heart was right up there with it. Was he sweating? Was he really this caught up in this matter?

"Judging by the look on your face… you've had an interesting morning." Nnoitra remarked, taking that same leather chair from before. He watched as the blue-haired man across from him passed a simple glare before he moved to set his sight elsewhere. It wasn't all that rare to see him come in this riled up, but something about it told him that someone didn't just cut him off in traffic… "You know you're going to tell me eventually, might as well get it off your chest now."

He had a point…

This kind of thing wasn't exactly something that would be easy to put down… not to mention the man had already heard all about this issue ever since it came up the first time. It was almost a common topic between them, which was a conversation that usually ended in pain and red and blue sirens.

Giving a moment to allow his nerves to cool down, he moved to preoccupy his hands with the fresh stack of papers on the corner of his desk. Not bothering to question how someone got in here even with the door locked from yesterday evening. "Her name's Menoly."

"And I'm supposed to care why?"

Strike one.

He almost crumbled the papers in his fists before he forced himself to release the tension in his fingers. "That lady from my dream, the one you're always fucking up… that's her name."

It seemed to take a moment for the other man to understand and when he did those pitch black eyes of his narrowed into slender slits. "How much did you drink this morning? Or was it something you smoked instead?"

Strike Two.

Goddamn this man was going out fast.

"I ran into her again this morning… I figured why the hell not just run with the prospect of being mentally insane." He muttered, fingers moving to pinch the empty space between his eyes. Goddamnit, his mind was still racing so much, it felt like he couldn't even get his words together long enough to say them. "And here's the twist ending… she had the same kind of… dream thing. Apparently I fit the same profile as some guy in her dream- I was just the only one who had the balls to go through with tracking her down."

One could almost see the thought process that the second man was trying to finish; his eyes narrowing once more as he reconsidered what he just said- fuck, he even knew how crazy he sounded… the only difference was that he met her and knew she existed now. It probably wouldn't go much further than that, but he had her name and number… in case he ever wanted to test his mental stability again, he could call her up and chat. They'd probably just cuss one another out again though.

"Was it good for her then?"

Strike three.

"If I didn't care about going on probation again, I would fucking cut your throat right here and now." He snarled, remembering the knife he had stashed in the bottom draw of his desk. "Don't fucking bother me with questions if you're just going to waste my time with your useless responses. I'm sure you have better things to do than sit in here and play on that stupid phone of yours."

Before the other man could so much as get another word in, the door to his office was shoved aside to reveal another black-haired man on the other side; his hair styled and cut in a kind of bowl-looking fashion, although the strands in the back grew out to touch the nape of his neck. There were three small, star-looking tattoos lined over the top of his left eye, rumors said they used to be for some kind of gang-related thing- but seeing as the man liked to bitch about the lack of ink in the printer, he highly doubted that. His lips were slightly pushed out in an exaggerated frown before he lifted a white phone with one hand, acting as though that was supposed to answer for his sudden intrusion.

"Nnoitra said you meet some kind of chick."

Strike Four.

Goddamn this man was just asking to be banned from the game.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" he snarled, snapping his attention towards the other man, who continued to mess around on his phone. "Let me guess, you're going to tell the whole fucking floor about it?"

"Just sent off an email, you're welcome."


	8. And I Will Win

A harsh sigh escaped her lips as she less than politely excused herself from the meeting table and stepped out into the corridor outside. The last thing she wanted to do was waste her entire morning being cramped in a room with six other executives and then she had to sit there and listen to their shitty ideas. She could think up better ideas and projects in the shower compared to these paper documents they claimed they spent weeks on. What did these people know about running a business anyways? For a moment she was honestly wondering if these were the executives they hired or just some men in suits that got pulled off the street.

Even Loly seemed to be having a hard time not laughing at their ideas, but she guessed as higher management she had to show off some kind of professional outlook. Not that she really kept the image up that much once the doors were closed and she could kick off her shoes again.

She just needed a break though.

If there were any more talks about the 'cutting edge' designs or 'worldwide love' for some piece of shit, she was going to lose it and punch someone. Loly probably noticed that and that was why she let her go without saying anything.

Fingers moved to push through her hair as she took a sharp right and carried herself down the elongated corridor; she just needed some kind of break in scenery, some kind of exercise to wear her down a little bit. Shaking her head, she tried to push out the minor homicidal thoughts from her mind and shifted her focus to the small break room that was coming up on her right- Hell, she could probably go for a cup of cheap coffee and stale chocolate bar.

The coffee machine had been on its last leg for a couple of months now but it could still kick out a good cup every now and again. Today wasn't her day though, unless the cup she got was supposed to be a good one… in which case someone had some seriously low standards. Almost as low as the selection at the candy machine. This just wasn't her fucking day, was it? It could be worse she guessed… everyone could spontaneously combust and set off the fire alarms and sprinkler systems, then she'd get soaked. And then she'd be miserable.

She toyed with the shape of the cellphone in her pant's pocket, tempting to take it out and dial in his number.

Talking about low standards, she guessed this was her lowest one to date. She met a guy on the street and got his number because maybe he looked like someone from a dream. What if this was just how mentally insane people met their victims? This was how serial killers got so many victims, because they were willing to jump into anything. But damn the process of thinking straight… she would toss it aside just this once. They had a short conversation this morning; they barely knew each other, but she considering talking to him again.

Giving into a self-defeating sigh, she pulled the phone out from her pocket and punched in his number; it had somehow gotten burned into the back of her head anyways. The ringing on the other line startled her and for a moment, she considered hanging up before he even answered- if he answered anyways. What if he was in some kind of meeting as well? Hell, she didn't even know where he worked, but he was dressed in a suit every day it had to have been something professional like… probably another reason for why she should've waited to call.

A small click signaled that the call had been received.

"What the hell do you want?"

Oh yeah, that was definitely him.

"Well fuck you too." She remarked before she could even catch herself.

There seemed to be a brief pause on the other line, followed shortly by a quick sigh. "I should save your number sometime soon or else I'll answer every call like that." He muttered.

"I have a feeling you answer like that a lot of the time regardless." She replied as she leaned briefly against the slightly dented snack machine. "I uh… I had to step out of a meeting before things turned violent and figured I needed something to get my mind off the matter. This shitty coffee isn't really helping me."

"Shitty coffee never does shit for anyone." He spoke. "The security staff around here keeps trying to offer me some but I've seen what it does to people."

"Damn, I wish our security staff went around offering coffee, even if it is shitty."

"Yeah well… it probably doesn't help I'm in the security office anyways."

A soft, maybe barely audible chuckle escaped her at the remark. "Get mad and beat someone's face in, I suspect?"

"I beat three people actually. They're getting ice for their combined injuries." He answered; the slight squeaking of a chair in the background meant he was moving around for the moment. "Man, you wanna talk about a bunch of people who can't take a hit, they went down all too easily."

She didn't know him all that well, just his name and number, but for some reason that did seem like something that would be a part of his attitude. "You take too many steroids this morning and decided to let off some steam?'

"Thanks for noticing my muscles underneath the suit, but they're natural." He retorted with a stiff sense of sarcasm maybe. "It was a bad morning for everyone and it only got worse when they tried to drag me into it. Not my fault they pissed me off; the only responsibility I will accept is that my fist did break a nose or two. That is it."

Anger issues, but she already knew this.

"Well if I could punch an asshole or two without fear of losing my job, then I would too." She started, before she eventually decided on what her pick out of the cheap snack machine would be. "In fact, I'd do it right now."

"What do you do anyways?"

Ah fuck, she was kind of hoping they could've skipped over that part. "I work at this fashion merchandise kind of place." She answered as she put in a dollar or two into the machine and entered in her snack combination, watching as the less that sturdy metal rings slowly cycled out the chocolate bar she wanted until it dropped into the designated pick up area. "I handle most of the paperwork and the marketing strategies though… as well as the occasional finances and such."

"… Well you don't really dress the part for working in the fashion business."

"Good thing you dress the part for working in the asshole department."

"God, you're a bitch."


End file.
